August 21st, 2006, Cygil hands out a sheet of paper to each of his students and prepares to start the first entrance test.
“Okay, everyone, the first test will be a simple Spiritual Energy knowledge test for me to gauge how much you already know. Don’t worry if you score poorly or have no previous experience with Spiritual Energy at all; that’s fine.” Cygil explains, “I’ll read out a question, and you write down the answer or your best guess. Any questions?”
The students shake their heads.
“Okay, let’s begin.”
“Question one: what is Spiritual Energy?”
“Question two: where did Spiritual Energy come from originally?”
“Question three: how many Spiritual Energy Traits are there?”
“Question four: is everybody born with Spiritual Energy?”
“Question five: what is the maximum amount of Spiritual Energy Traits you can have at birth?”
“Question six: is everyone guaranteed to have a Trait?”
“Question seven: what age do most children awaken their Traits?”
“Question eight: what is a Mirror Pill?”
“Question nine: how long does a Mirror Pill last?”
“Question ten: what happens if you run out of Spiritual Energy?”
“When you are finished, bring your papers up to my desk.” instructs Cygil.
After a few minutes, everyone turns the test in. While Cygil grades all the papers, the students continue discussing the test.
“That was pretty easy.” says Jackson, “I know he said it would be simple, but still…”
“Speak for yourself.” says Allen, “I don’t know much about it yet.”
“It wasn’t that difficult. You can easily guess most of them.” says Kareem.
“I won’t say individual scores, but I will say that both Jackson and Kareem got perfect scores.” says Cygil, “Other than that, the rest of you got around four, five, six, or seven. Pretty good.”
“Can we know what the answers are?” asks Amber.
“Yes, of course, I’ll go over them in order. First, Spiritual Energy put into the simplest terms, is the energy within all living things. With training, an individual can learn to control and release this energy in many ways. Originally, Spiritual Energy was a gift from Lady Una that was given to us many years before her sudden departure. There are infinite different types of Traits. Ninety-eight percent of people are born with Spiritual Energy. The maximum number of Traits you can be born with is two, although not everyone is guaranteed to be born with one. The age at which most children awaken their Traits is thirteen to sixteen. What was next… ah, Mirror Pills are special pills made out of someone’s blood as well as other chemicals. When one is taken, you gain the Trait of whoever's blood was used for about thirty minutes. Finally, if an individual runs out of their Spiritual Energy, they will pass out on the spot, leaving themselves prone to attack. So whenever you are in battle, keeping track of how much Spiritual Energy you have remaining is important.”
“Woah, I’ve never heard about Mirror Traits before.” says Apollo.
“Have you ever seen someone use one, Mr. Cygil?” asks Kian.
“No, never. I’ve yet to see a Mirror Pill in action with my own eyes. Although, I’m pretty sure my brother has, so make sure you ask him whenever you see him again.”
“Cool! I will!”
“When’s the next test?” asks Zachary, “I’m ready to dominate in a strength one.”
“The next test will be in the training yard, but it will not be a strength test.”
“Then what kind of test will it be?” asks Amber.
“It’s out back in the yard; I’ll explain there.”
The class exits the classroom and heads out the double doors to the training yard.
“Uh… there’s nothing out here.” says Jackson.
“Yeah, what are we testing, Mr. Cygil?” asks Amber.
“Next up is the endurance test. You’ll all line up on one side of the field and see how many trips you can make to the other side of the field and back.” Cygil explains, “If you stop running or do not reach the other side and back within thirty seconds, you’re out. Also, the time to complete a lap will shrink by five seconds every ten laps.”
“Stamina training… my least favorite.” Allen sighs.
The eight students line up along the wall.
“Before you begin, I remind you this is not a race. Run at whatever speed you wish; just get to the other side and back in time. Now, is everyone ready? Alright then. Begin!!!”
The test starts, and all students rush to the other side. Zachary starts the test running at full speed while everyone else decides to jog.
“You’re pretty fast.” says Jackson, “But you might want to pace yourself.”
“Are you my boss?” asks Zachary, “God, you couldn’t be any more annoying.”
“I just…”
“Don’t worry about him, Jackson.” says Kian.
“Yeah, let him fail.” Kye adds, glaring Zachary down.
The following nine laps end similarly. Zachary runs at full speed while everyone else jogs at a stable speed. However, after lap ten, a few others were forced to speed up to make the twenty-five-second time limit. On lap eighteen, Allen became the first student to be eliminated.
“Unfortunately, you did not make it back to the wall in time.” says Cygil, “You did your best; you can head inside and grab a drink if you’d like.”
Allen nods, unable to catch enough breath to speak.
“Alright, lap nineteen, begin!”
Everyone makes it past lap nineteen, but Jackson fails to finish lap twenty in time by one second.
“Good try, Jackson. Head inside and rest up. Okay, everyone, the next ten laps will have a twenty-second timer, so speed up! Lap twenty-one, begin!”
Not having enough in the tank, Apollo falls short of completing lap twenty-one, and Amber fails to complete lap twenty-two immediately after.
“Lap twenty-three, begin!”
The next three laps go smoothly, but the remaining four students visibly slow down.
“You seem to be slowing down!” Kye shouts towards Zachary, “Maybe you should just give up.”
“You son of a-”
“Lap twenty-six, begin!”
The students complete laps twenty-six and twenty-seven, but Kye and Kian give up due to exhaustion on lap twenty-eight, and Zachary fails to complete it by the smallest margin.
“Great job, you three. Head inside.” instructs Cygil.
“Thanks…. Mr. Cygil.” Kian wheezes.
“I need a nap…” gasps Kye.
“Three? I totally touched the wall in time. Are you saying I’m out?” complains Zachary, “I can… keep going!”
“Sorry, Zachary, but you missed it by less than a second. I can’t let you continue.”
“But I definitely-”
Amber grabs Zachary’s ear and yanks him towards the Academy. “Sorry about him. I knew he’d do something like this.” Amber apologizes.
“Let go, Amber!” pleads Zachary, “You’re gonna yank my damn ear off!”
“Oh shut up, I’m not even pulling that hard!”
Cygil laughs. “Alright, it’s just you left, Kareem. Lap twenty-nine, begin!”
The test continues for a few more laps but concludes after Kareem drops out on lap thirty-one. Back inside the Academy, Cygil congratulates and praises all of his students.
“Congratulations, everyone. You’ve all done well so far.” says Cygil, "We'll have to wait a bit before we start the next test; another class is using the gym. So rest up.”
“What is the final test?” asks Kye.
“Does it involve punching?” asks Zachary, “I need to punch something.”
“Not quite; the final test is just a simple weight-lifting test. You’ll all take turns to see how many times you can bench thirty pounds. It’s pretty straightforward, so we'll begin after I write down your scores for the previous test.”
Cygil heads towards the classroom.
“Thirty pounds? That’s it?”
“Not everyone is as strong as you, Zach.” says Amber.
“You probably won’t even do the most reps.” says Kareem, “Being cocky is what will hold you back.”
“Huh!?” Zackary gets in Kareem’s face. “Me being cocky? Everything you’ve said so far has been cocky as hell. Who do you think you are?”
Kareem turns around and walks away without saying a word to Zachary.
“Don’t ignore me!” Zachary tries to grab Kareem but gets flipped over and pinned to the ground with his arm behind his back.
“Zach!” shouts Amber.
“Calm down, guys!” says Jackson, “We shouldn’t fight each other!”
“I do not wish to battle you. Not yet, that is.” says Kareem, “I also apologize for coming off as cocky; that is not my intention.”
“Screw you. Get the hell off of me, or I’ll kill you.”
Bright red lines start to form all over Zachary’s body, signaling the activation of his Trait, and Kareem lets go and backs away.
“Is that his Trait?” whispers Jackson.
“Looks like it.” Allen replies.
“Like I said, I do not wish to battle you yet. We can settle this another day.”
Cygil returns to the lobby, and Zachary deactivates his Trait.
“Alright, who wants to go first?” He asks, “The other class isn’t using the bench press.”
“I’ll go.” Zachary says sternly.
“Very well, come with me to the gym. Everyone else, hang out in here until it’s your turn.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cygil and Zachary walk away.
“Well, that was interesting.” says Kian.
“I guess he had it coming.” says Kye, “I’d do the same thing if he were yelling in my face.”
“Yeah, except you’d probably lose the fight.” says Jackson.
“I would not!”
Jackson and Kian laugh.
“Hey, Jackson.” says Apollo.
“Huh?”
“How’s it like being related to such a powerful Warrior?”
“We aren’t related. But it is nice having him there to train me.”
“So, he isn’t your grandpa?”
“Nope, just a family friend.”
“Oh, okay...”
“Why do you sound disappointed?” asks Amber.
Apollo sighs. “I’m not disappointed, just curious. I like to admire strong warriors. They can do things I can’t even imagine doing myself. Oh, Amber, isn’t your brother pretty strong too?
“I guess you could say that, but I’ve never seen him do anything in person.”
“You’ve never trained with your brother?” asks Allen.
“Nope. Jett has been too busy to help me with training since he was recently promoted.”
“Does that bother you at all?” asks Jackson.
“Well, not really; it actually makes me happy.”
“What!? How could being unable to train with a strong Warrior make you happy?” asks Apollo.
“I’ve never told anyone this, but living in my brother’s shadow is difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jett, but no one looks at me for me. Instead, they look at me as Jett Burns’ little sister, and it pisses me off, which is the main reason I’m here. I want to become as strong as, no, I want to become stronger than my brother so people look at me for who I am, Amber Burns.”
“Sounds like a great goal, Amber Burns.” says Kian, “I’m sure you’ll complete it.”
“Nice one, Romeo.” jokes Kye.
“Hey, I was just being nice!”
After Cygil and Zachary eventually return to the lobby, Cygil takes every other student to the gym to complete their test. When it’s not their turn, everyone except Kareem and Zachary, who sit on opposite sides of the lobby, chat and get to know one another more. When the last student finishes the test, the final scores are Kareem with 30 reps, Zachary with 24, Apollo with 22, Kye with 21, Kian with 17, Allen with 14, Amber with 13, and Jackson with 10. The class then heads back to their classroom.
“Can everyone sit in their seats, please? I’d like to write down the seating chart. Now, where did I put that paper…” Cygil scans his desk drawers and pulls out a seating chart.
“Mr. Cygil can be kind of forgetful, huh?” Jackson whispers, taking a seat.
“He reminds me of Kye.” Kian whispers back.
“What’d you say?” asks Kye.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Mhmm…”
“Ah, here it is! Let’s see.. The front row has Zachary, Amber, Allen, and Apollo. And the back row has Jackson, Kye, Hairno, and Kareem. All in that order. It can be altered if this needs to be changed later, but this is where you will all sit for now. Now then, you’ve all done fantastic jobs today, and seeing this new set of students fills me with excitement as I see great potential in every one of you. That said, I’ll now read out your overall rank based on your scores today. As I only have had a one-day sample, and these were the most basic tests, do not be too upset if you end up being further down the list, as things can and will most likely change. I’ll now read the ranks in reverse order. In eighth place, Allen.”
Allen lays his head down on his desk. “That’s expected. I knew I’d be last...”
“It’s okay, I’m positive your ranking will increase quickly.” says Jackson, “It can only go up!”
“In seventh, Jackson.”
“I’ll work hard to become stronger!”
“That’s the spirit, Jackson!” says Amber.
“In sixth, Amber.”
“This is only my beginning!” announces Amber.
“In fifth, Kian.”
“Dangit, I was shooting for the top three.” says Kian.
“It’s still a good start.” says Jackson.
“Yeah, keep it up, and you’ll catch up with me in no time!” says Kye.
“I just realized you beat me….”
“In fourth, Apollo.”
“The three of you ahead of me better watch out!”
“In third, Kye.”
“All of my training paid off.” says Kye, “I’ll have to thank Gramps later.”
“I swear if I get second…” thinks Zachary.
“In second… Zachary.”
“...I’ll kill him.”
“And finally, ranking in first place, Kareem.”
“As expected.” says Kareem.
Cygil checks his watch. “Three o’clock already, huh? Alright, that’s all for today. Get a good night's rest; normal lessons start tomorrow.”
“Yes, Mr. Cygil.”
Meanwhile, in the Night Rider bandit camp...
“Hello beautiful, how are you doing today?” asks Rio.
“As if you care.” replies Kira.
“Oh, but my sweet Kira, I do care for you. Why else would I have let you live all those years ago?”
“You sick bastard. If you care, then why am I locked in here day after day?”
Kira is located in a special cell underneath the camp’s headquarters. Although she is locked up against her will, she lives in luxury. The cell contains a king-sized bed, many bookshelves, a full bathroom with a shower, a couch, and a TV. She also has expensive clothes and shoes.
“Don’t give me that crap.” snaps Rio, “You know I can’t let you free above ground anymore. You’ll try and corrupt… him. Besides, look around; you have everything you need down here.”
“He shouldn’t even exist.” Kira says sternly.
“Say that again, and I’ll come in there and beat you myself. Is that clear?”
Kira doesn’t respond.
“I said, is that clear?!” Rio shouts.
“Yes…”
“Great. I have a meeting to attend, so I’ll head out now. I’ll be back tonight.”
Rio leaves the basement, and Kira breaks down into tears.
“Kye… Kian… please be alright…”
Comments (0)
See all